Browsing Tag

The Boys in the Boat

Favorite Books of 2014

Just in time for your shopping list, here are my favorite books of 2014:

The coveted, “Would you shut up about that book … it’s all you ever talk about” Award goes to The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown. Easily my favorite book of the year. History, human interest, love stories, Nazi propoganda, politics, sports … it’s all here.

The “This changed how I think about my faith” Award goes to Soul Keeping by John Ortberg. I’ve always wondered what a soul really is and why it’s important. John wrote a brilliant book that explains it all …

Book Reviews,

Reading List Version 1.0

Can you believe we are halfway through 2014 already? I can’t, but then maybe because I’ve had my nose in a book the whole time. Here is my reading list for the year thus far. I highly recommend The Boys in the Boat for human interest, The Bully Pulpit for history, Soul Keeping for spiritual development, Asia’s Cauldron for current events, Street Smarts for business, It Happened in Wisconsin for a fun summer read, and Their Eyes Were Watching God for the sheer beauty of a brilliant novel.

The list below is in the chronological order of how I read …

Book Reviews,

The Boys in the Boat

Wow, what a story! Author Daniel James Brown has beautifully written The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. This is the untold story of the University of Washington crew team and their pursuit of Olympic glory.

But it is much more. It is a story of the 1930’s in America, of loss and hardship, of family conflict, and especially of reinventing oneself through teamwork and trust. And in the background like a black shadow is the rise of Nazi Germany. We all know the Jesse Owens story in …